Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph

Tired of airport security queues, delays and all those extra taxes and charges, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a series of high-speed adventures across the Continent on its fast trains instead. From shiny London St Pancras, Tom travels to places that wouldn’t feature on a standard holiday wish-list, and discovers the hidden delights of mysterious Luxembourg, super-trendy Rotterdam, much-maligned Frankfurt and lovely lakeside Lausanne, via a pop concert in Lille. It’s 186 mph all the way - well, apart from a power cut in the Channel Tunnel on the way to Antwerp. Is our idea of ‘Europe’ changing as its destinations become easier to reach? And what fun can you have at the ends of the lines? Jump on board and find out. AUTHOR: Tom Chesshyre is a travel journalist based in London and the author of ‘How Low Can You Go?: Round Europe for 1p Each Way (Plus Tax)’, which sold over 10,000 copies (Hodder, 2007). He has worked as staff travel writer for The Times, for Cambridge Evening News, Sporting Life, Sky Sports and The Daily Telegraph and writes frequently for the Mail on Sunday. REVIEWS: Travels across Europe on high-speed trains to explore off-beat places like mysterious Luxembourg, super-trendy Rotterdam, much-maligned Frankfurt and lakeside Lausanne. - The Bookseller, 8th April 2011